Trim button manufacture



Feb. 11, 1969 S Y E N EFETA;

B mv United States Patent 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The method disclosed herein relates to making a trim button from a cup-shaped blank with annular side walls and a top wall and a collet having a stem extending laterally therefrom and an annular side surface spaced outwardly from said stem, the height of said collet being less than that of said side wall of said blank, said blank having a covering extending along the outer surfaces of said top wall and side wall, around the free edge of said side wall, along the inner surface of said side wall and along a portion of the inner surface of said top wall, to fonm a trim button wherein the side wall of the blank extends downwardly beyond the bottom wall of the collet and radially inwardly thereof. The method comprises the steps of moving said collet and stem intosaid cupshaped blank with the stern extending outwardly, applying an axial force to the free edge of the side walls of the cup-shaped blank while laterally confining the side walls and the top wall against axial movement, simultaneously restnaining the leading edge against axial movement to cause the leading edge of the side walls of the blank to deform radially inwardly around the periphery of the collet, and thereafter applying an axial force to the portion of the free edge of the side wall which has been moved nadially inwardly to deform the free edge axially and radially against the collet to thereby provide an axially thickened portion adjacent the free edge while confining the side wall against lateral outward movement adjacent the area of juncture of the side wall of the blank to the top wall of the blank.

This application is a continuation of my application Ser. No. 549,529, filed May 12, 1966, now abandoned, which in turn was a division of my application Ser. No. 368,269, filed May 18, 1964 now Patent No. 3,268,964.

This invention relates to trim buttons and particularly to trim buttons that are used in upholstering automobiles and the like.

A major problem with respect to trim buttons such as are used in automobiles and the like is that the cap, which is often covered with a cloth or plastic covering, tends to easily become disconnected from the collet.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a trim button which obviates this difiiculty by having the free edge of the side wall of the cap deformed radially inwardly beyond the normal inclined peripheral surface of the collet.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a trim button which is neat in appearance and can be used in the same manner as prior art buttons.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for making such trim buttons.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a part sectional View of a trim button embodying the invention.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are sectional views of :an apparatus for making the trim button shown in FIG. 1, the parts being shown in successive operating positions.

3,426,626 Patented Feb. 11, 1969 Referring to FIG. 1, the trim button embodying the invention comprises a cap 10 which is attached to a collet 11 having a laterally extending stern 12, whereby the button is attached to the upholstery. Collet 11 includes a top surface 13, an inclined peripheral surface 14 which extends axially and radially inwrardly toward the stem 12, and a bottom surface 15 that extends generally transversely toward the stem 12.

Cap 10 includes a top wall 16 which may be concave, flat or convex and an annular side wall 17 that is deformed inwardly, the free edge 18 of the bottom wall extending radially inwardly below the bottom surface 15 of the collet 11. A covering C is provided over the outer surface of the bottom wall 16, over the outer surface of the side wall 17, around the free edge 18 of the side wall 17, over the inner surface of the side wall 17 and radially inwardly along a portion of the periphery of the inner surface of the top wall 16 into overlying relationship with the top surface 13 of the collet 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, the covering is thickened in the area 19 adjacent the free edge 18 of the side wall 17 of the cap 10.

By this construction, the cap 10 is fixed to the collet 11 in such a manner that there is little possibility of the cap coming off of the collet when the trim button is in use. The covering material C may comprise plastic, cloth or plastic impregnated cloth. Such materials have the tendency to return to their original dimensions when tensioned, as for example when they .are placed in tight contact with the cap surfaces. However, the provision of the free edge 18 extending radially inwardly beyond the inclined surface 14 and the provision of the covering material on the inner surfaces of the wall 17 and top wall 16 insures that the cap will not tend to pop off, as may occur with prior art trim buttons.

In accordance with the invention, the trim button is made in an apparatus such as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 which comprises an upper die 20 and a lower die 21 which are moved into registry. The upper die 20 has an opening 21a therein in which a movable member 22 is adapted to be moved upwardly and downwardly. The cross section and size of the opening 21a correspond to the peripheral dimensions of a blank B that is positioned in the opening 21a. The blank B corresponds to the cap with the covering material C thereon shown in FIG. 1 except that the side wall 17 including the peripheral edges 18 extends axially and has not 'been deformed.

The lower die 21 includes an opening 23 aligned with the opening 21a but having slightly less cross sectional dimensions to provide an annular shoulder 24 aligned with the free edge of the blank B. Lower die 21 also includes a movable member 25 in the opening 23 having an opening 26 therein into which the stem 12, which is attached to the collet 11, extends. The upper end of the member 25 is provided with an upwardly and outwardly inclined shoulder 27 on which the collet 11 rests when the collet is in position on the lower movable member 25.

In operation, when the blank B has been placed in position in opening 21a and the collet 11 has been inserted in position as shown in FIG. 2, the movable member 22 is first moved downwardly to bring the free edge of the blank B into contact with the shoulder 24 while the side wall and bottom wall of the blank are confined by the sides of the opening 21a and member 22, respectively. The lower member 25 is then moved upwardly to bring the collet 11 within the cup-shaped blank B. As this is done, the upper member 22 is moved downwardly to cause shoulder 24 to deform the free edge of the blank B radially inwardly into overlying relation with the shoulder 27 on the lower member 25. The movement of the upper member 22 is then interrupted and the lower member 25 is moved upwardly to cause inclined shoulder 27 to deform the free edge 18 including the covering thereon axially upwardly and radially inwardly into contact with the lower surface 15 of the collet 11. The excess material present at the area of the periphery is thereby thickened as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. This is accomplished without crimping or splitting the edge 18 of the cap.

Satisfactory results have been achieved by using a cap made of 0.010 cold rolled steel or 0.012 hot rolled low carbon open hearth steel, the latter being zinc-nickel plated. satisfactorily coating materials which have been used are vinyl, or vinyl impregnated drill, knit back and paper fabrics.

It can thus be seen that there have been provided a trim button and method and apparatus for manufacturing such a trim button wherein the cap is firmly fixed to the collet so that it cannot be removed in normal use.

I claim:

1. The method of making a trim button from a cup- .shaped blank with an annular side wall and a top wall and a collet having a stem extending laterally therefrom and an annular side surface spaced outwardly from said stem, the height of said collet being less than that of said side wall of said blank, said blank having a covering extending along the outer surfaces of said top wall and side wall, around the free edge of said side wall, along the inner surface of said side wall to form a trim button wherein the side wall of the blank extends downwardly beyond the bottom wall of the collet and radially inwardly thereof, which method comprises the steps of moving said collet and stem into said cup-shaped blank with the stem extending outwardly, applying an axial force to the free edge of the side walls of the cup-shaped blank while laterally confining the side walls and the top wall against axial movement, simultaneously restraining the leading edge against axial movement to cause the leading edge of the side walls of the blank to deform radially inwardly around the periphery of the collet, and thereafter applying an axial force to the portion of the free edge of the side wall which has been moved radially inwardly to deform the free edge axially and radially against the collet to thereby pro vide an axially thickened portion adjacent the free edge while confining the side wall against lateral outward movement adjacent the area of juncture of the side wall of the blank to the top wall of the blank. 2. The method of making a trim button from a cupshaped blank with an annular side wall and a top wall and a collet having an annular side surface extending alongside said side wall of said blank, the height of said collet being less than that of said side wall of said blank, said blank having a covering extending along the outer surfaces of said top wall and side wall, around the free edge of said side wall, along the inner surface of said side wall, to form a trim button wherein the side wall of the blank extends downwardly beyond the bottom wall of the collet and radially inwardly thereof, which method comprises the steps of moving said collet and stem into said cup-shaped blank, applying an axial force to the free edge of the side walls of the cup-shaped blank while laterally confining the side walls and the top wall against axial movement, simultaneously restraining the leading edge against axial movement to cause the leading edge of the side walls of the blank to deform radially inwardly around the periphery of the collet, and thereafter applying an axial force to the portion of the free edge of the side wall which has been moved radially inwardly to deform the free edge axially and radially against the collet to thereby provide an axially thickened portion adjacent the free edge while confining the side wall against lateral outward movement adjacent the area of juncture of the side wall of the blank to the top wall of the blank.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 443,417 12/1890 Thurston 79--5 484,976 10/1892 Phelps 79-5 1,197,384 9/1916 Menkin 79-5 1,256,615 2/1918 Talnoper 79-5 GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner. 

